A Heroic Professor A)In Flint, Michigan, there is a famous block of concrete (混凝土) that for decades has served as a community message board. This week, several residents went to “The Block” with a message. In big, black capital letters they painted: “YOU WANT OUR TRUST?? WE WANT VA Tech!!!” Underneath they wrote “PSI” and circled it in red with a line through it. It stands for Professional Service Industries Inc., the independent business the city had wanted to hire to test its water for contamination, and which the residents don’t trust. They want Marc Edwards. And now, they’re getting him. B)On Wednesday, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder announced that he was appointing Edwards to the newly created committee tasked with finding a long-term strategy to address the water crisis. The 17-person team of experts will have three years to report their recommendations. Edwards is the environmental engineering professor from Virginia Tech who once led, almost entirely on his own, a campaign against the federal government’s failure to protect residents of Washington from lead in the city’s water. And he won. C) After helping to expose that water crisis in 2004, Edwards spent six years challenging the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to admit they weren’t being honest about the extent of the damage the lead had on children. He burned through thousands of dollars of his own money, as well as 33,000 emergency grant from the National Science Foundation, but he has estimated that he’s spent another almost $150,000. G)Edwards is a father of two teenagers. When he first started exposing the perils of lead water, his kids were two and four. He teaches a course on ethics and heroism at Virginia Tech. He tells his students that everyone has it in them to be heroic. “I feel like I’m doing the job I was born to do,” he said. “I get up every day with such a sense of purpose I wish everyone could experience something like that once in their life.” H)His colleagues in the field describe his passion and commitment. David Dzombak, a Carnegie Mellon University professor, met Edwards when he was a graduate student in 1988. He recalled Edwards speaking at a conference in 2002 warning other scientists to take seriously the threat of worsening water infrastructure (基础设施). Even if it wasn’t the hottest research topic of the moment, he told them it was their obligation as civil engineers to protect the public. “I remember it vividly,” Dzombak said. “He challenged his colleagues to talk about their priorities.” I)Bruce Lanphear, a professor at Simon Fraser University and also an expert in lead toxicity (毒性), said Edwards not only studies the impact of lead in water, but he makes his testing available to communities in need, like he did in Flint. “What I think he does so beautifully is he fills a void (空白) that has been neglected,” Lanphear said. “He’s got passion and persistence. He’s taken this problem on and he’s going to help fix it. There’s an arrogance in the best sense of the word. There’s no question he will help force us to deal with it.” J)The work is far from over. Edwards sees his role as continuing to hold the government accountable to the residents of Flint. He’ll share his scientific knowledge and continue to advocate for better civil servants. “I didn’t get in this field to stand by and let science be used to poison little kids,” Edwards said. “I can’t live in a world where that happens. I won’t live in that world.” _______ 1.  Marc Edwards succeeded in getting the CDC to admit that they had misled the public about the risk of lead in D.C.’s water. _______ 2.  Marc Edwards believes that he is living every day and doing his job bravely with a purpose. _______ 3.  Marc Edwards continues to use his knowledge to get the government to do what it should do for its people. _______ 4.  A woman in Flint reported the contamination of her tap water along with her family’s health problems, but officials denied it regardless of evidence. _______ 5.  Marc Edwards has uncovered the water problem and is determined to help fix it. _______ 6.  Marc Edwards argued at a conference that scientists should work in the public interest. _______ 7.  Flint residents trust Marc Edwards instead of the company the city wanted to hire to test the city’s water. _______ 8.  The Environmental Protection Agency provided misinformation about the water problem to the mayor of Flint, who came on TV to show the water was safe. _______ 9.  Marc Edwards, an engineering professor, has been appointed by the Michigan Governor to deal with the water crisis in Flint. _______ 10.  Marc Edwards formed a water study team and spent a large amount of his own money on his research and investigation.